Coyote, I especially like the quote you chose from this piece. Thank you!
I LOVED this article!
"Ms. Eller said there was just something different, spiritual even, about women working the land together."
YES!
I'm just going to leave this right here. ❤️ 
Thank you Cindy for posting the letter.
Wow!!!
Cindy, thank you for posting. In case anyone has trouble enlarging the letter on their device, here it is spelled out:
On January 3rd, it was my privilege as Speaker to invite you to deliver the State of the Union address on January 29th. The Constitution calls for the President to “from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union.” During the 19th Century and up until the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, these annual State of the Union messages were delivered to Congress in writing. And since the start of modern budgeting in Fiscal Year 1977, a State of the Union address has never been delivered during a government shutdown.
In September 2018, Secretary Nielsen designated State of the Union Addresses as National Special Security Events (NSSEs), recognizing the need for “the full resources of the Federal Government to be brought to bear” to ensure the security of these events. The extraordinary demands presented by NSSEs require weeks of detailed planning with dozens of agencies working together to prepare for the safety of all participants.
The U.S. Secret Service was designated as the lead federal agency responsible for coordinating, planning, exercising, and implementing security for National Special Security Events by Public Law 106-544, December 19, 2000. However, both the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security have not been funded for 26 days now — with critical departments hamstrung by furloughs.
Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on January 29th.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
NANCY PELOSI
Speaker of the House
LOL Written Homework ?!?!?! Good luck with that, Nancy!
Jokes aside, I'm on the fence on this one. I don't know that it's a good idea to NOT have the SoU message given that he won't do the writing assignment. I feel like not having it is another nail in the coffin of democracy.
Thanks so much, Cindy, for posting Pelosi's letter--and thank you, too, Jeanne for enlarging/re-sharing it. I'm reassured, even enthused, by Pelosi's eloquent forthrightness, and I get a super-positive take on her signature.
I can't help it, but these days my mind keeps circling back to Alex's prediction:
- I see a bank vault and Trump. He is closing the doors of the bank vault and he’s inside it. I hear the words “whatever” and “That’s all folks!” Then I hear a sizzling sound like an egg or piece of meat burning. (Alex)
This has already been marked as a hit, but I also find the current situation so fitting. With the shut down, Trump has in many ways closed down the government's coffers. He has boxed himself in, leaving little room to manoeuvre. He is alone and isolated in the White house, he is unable to address the nation via the State of the Union. Personally, he seems unaffected (see his 'hamberder' dinner) and indifferent, while federal workers are struggling to put food on the table. Does anyone else see it this way?
Villager, during the transition period after the 2016 elections I had a dream where I saw Trump seated alone under the rotunda of the US capitol. It seemed like he was expecting some big event of government pageantry or state visit, but he was all alone and no one was showing up to give him the adulation he thought he deserved. For whatever reason, reams of government documents started pouring from the top of the rotunda (like a mocking version of confetti). My perspective then switched to the National Mall, where I saw the US Capitol dome fall over onto its side. When I looked around, Washington DC was dark and empty, completely devoid of people.
So yes, I would say Trump is alone and isolated, and if the State of the Union is indeed called off/delayed, then that would seem to fit with my dream of cancelled "pageantry" that trump was looking forward to. A dark and empty Washington fits with the current shutdown and the general trend people on this site have been seeing of the nation turning away from D.C. and adopting a more local perspective in the years to come. But I don't think Trump is unaffected. His behavior has gotten even more off the wall in the past year as trusted aides depart/turn on him and investigators "circle the wagons." What I saw in my dream, and what others here are seeing in their meditations/visions, is that being president is turning out to be a far departure from what Trump imagined it to be. So while he is trying to create an image of confidence for his base, in reality he is lashing out in fear, and the shutdown is one of his vain defenses.
I kind of like to think that the sizzling egg/meat is actually the sound of his limited intellect melting down as he tries to grasp how he got himself in this situation.
@Coyote, the image of 'his limited intellect melting down' made me laugh. You are right of course, he is not unaffected regarding his own situation, he just comes across as completely unaffected regarding the suffering felt by federal workers and others who depend on the government. Your dream fits the current situation to a T. I like to think of the recent unredacted slip up by Manafort's lawyers as confetti, and I am sure there is more to come.